is a neumann mic worth the money

i'm out shopping for a new general purpose mic
and i'm baffled as to why the neumanns cost
so much. are they worth it?
thanks
jeff

There are more versatile mics than the TLM103 for less money.

If you can rent a U67 or U47 then life is good, otherwise, my two favs are AT4060 and the K2 from Rodes. More versatile and sound better.

ORIGINAL: jmarkham

i'm out shopping for a new general purpose mic
and i'm baffled as to why the neumanns cost
so much. are they worth it?
thanks
jeff

I don't think so. About 10 or 15 years ago all studio quality mics were expensive and the the difference between a $200 mic and a $1200+ mic was VERY noticable. Since then the market has been flooded with with huge number of good quality mics at absolutly silly prices. Even a $59 studio condensor mic sounds great now, hell they are cheaper then a good dynamic stage mic !! The difference in sound between them and a Neumann (pick a model) will depend on your taste and what your source is. But that difference will never sound like it's worth $2000 more to me. The other problem I have with the U87 for example is that it was designed way back when analog tape was all there was. It was designed to make up for some of the loss from noise reduction and analog recording, and it worked ! The only problem is I'm recording digital now and it's just too harsh in the upper mids for me. The second problem is that most of the cheap mics are trying to sound just like a U87... AAARRRHHH !!! I have used about 100 different mics including the U87 and if you like that sound you can get very close with a Studio Projects C1 or Rode NTK. I don't like that sound but I wanted just a bit more quality then the cheap stuff so I ended up with a few AKG mics that sound like they are worth the difference. For vocals I like the AKG Solid Tube and for insturments I use an AKG C-414, C-451b, and Shure SM81. After all the mics I've tried out and the way the market is today I don't think I would spend more the $1000 for any mic. The only other one I lust after is the Sony C800G and it's $6000+ new... ouch.

thanks much ... i was leaning heavily towards an AKG .. but
the salesperson was really pushing the neumann. they're both
excellent mics to my ears .. but i couldn't hear $1000 difference.

thanks,
jeff

ORIGINAL: jmarkham

thanks much ... i was leaning heavily towards an AKG .. but
the salesperson was really pushing the neumann. they're both
excellent mics to my ears .. but i couldn't hear $1000 difference.

thanks,
jeff

You were lucky to find a place to try them out. You can save even more on e-bay. I got a second AKG solid tube for $400 off e-bay, sounds just like the one I paid $900 for.

$400 off e-bay

gotta love ebay .. i'll give that a shot! thanks for the advice!
jeff

ps: it was guitar center .. and they're actually pretty good about
letting you try stuff. they were even willing to let me try out the
$11,000 Blue ... but I didn't want to waste their time or risk getting
hooked on it ;-)

ORIGINAL: praline

Think about the quality of the other components in your system. Don't get a super-high-end mic if you're going to run it through a cheap-o pre. The system is only as good as it's weakest link.

I only have a TLM-103 for the moment. I like it but haven't been able to really compare it. I'm sure not doing the mic. any justice by pluging it into a Focusrite TwinTrak. Of course I was less knowledgable when I purchased it.

Should have gone with the PreSonus Eureka at least...IDK maybe not.

With a TLM-103 I would go with a flat preamp like a Grace or Millennium, the "almost" tube pres are no good. Tube pres don't get good till you get to Avalon. I like Great River on other mics but I think for the TLM-103 it would be too much (in your face) mids.

I actually did a mic shoot out with the 103 and the GR and you are right. It was rather unspectacular.

I would go for AKG 414 XL II.

ORIGINAL: jmarkham

i'm out shopping for a new general purpose mic

IMHO, the AKG solidtube is hardly a general purpose mic (ever wonder why they are so cheap on ebay?). Re Neumann's, my first one was the TLM103. It sounded pretty good on many applications, but I typically would end up using a different mic that sounded better. I sold it and bought a used U87, and I have been very pleased with the U87. The TLM103 (bright & harsh) sounds nothing like the U87 (airy and smooth). It's a nice all around mic, but it is expensive. For general purpose condenser mics, I like these (from cheapest to most expensive):
Audio Technica AT4033
Studio Projects C3
AKG 414B-ULS
Neuman U87

After you buy your mic, the fun continues... you'll need to assess your need for a nice general purpose mic pre...

IMHO, the AKG solidtube is hardly a general purpose mic (ever wonder why they are so cheap on ebay?). Re Neumann's, my first one was the TLM103. It sounded pretty good on many applications, but I typically would end up using a different mic that sounded better. I sold it and bought a used U87, and I have been very pleased with the U87. The TLM103 (bright & harsh) sounds nothing like the U87 (airy and smooth). It's a nice all around mic, but it is expensive. For general purpose condenser mics, I like these (from cheapest to most expensive):
Audio Technica AT4033
Studio Projects C3
AKG 414B-ULS
Neuman U87

Magellan, What pre did you use with the 103? I find the 103 to sound incredible on certain vocalists.

is a neumann mic worth the money? Not IMO

I have tried a fair few condenser mics (not that many) the most impressive I tried was a telefunken, I cant remember the exact model...I think it was pretty expensive though. A decade ago when producers advised the one thing to certainly not cut corners on was a Mic. I'd say that nowadays is the complete opposite of back then.... cut those corners with a cad gxl2000 or something similar......just go for one with a pretty much flat frequency response.... most have a diagram (& specs) available on the manufacturers website(html/pdf) that looks pretty much like a graphic eq which is very easy to understand.

I seriously think the money is better spent on a preamp rather than on a really good mic.....the pre is what makes more of a difference... but even a cheap preamps like that come in most modern mixers are excellent for most vocal apps(as long as they're clean). You really just need a accurate recording of a performance (what your hearing live), with quality DSP's, its up to you to colour the sound it the way you want it.

A good couple of preamps (tube and solid state) are, however, pretty much essencial if you record live(DI/acoustic) instruments like bass,guitar,etc. and they ofcourse will benefit some vocal apps.

Recent advances in this area have seriously cut the cost of getting a pro set up at home IMO, however if money is no object and you want the very best of everything, ofcourse go with a expensive model, not much "bang for buck" though when compared to C1, B1, GXL2000,etc in my experience(albeit limited)

Whatever you decide on, the pro sounding cheapo condensers are here to stay. So you always have that option in the future.

Good luck,

Val